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Asakari t1_j61gcbg wrote

A majority of the first asteroid mining(s) should be used to gather and sell water for fuel, space infrastructure, and manufacturing.

The other materials coming as a bonus, possibly used to contain the water in transport.

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dentalstudent t1_j620038 wrote

There's a fiction book delta V where the first manned asteroid mining mission is to mine a bunch of materials and fuels shipped back to earth orbit to sell in space to other space startups

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danielravennest t1_j65c0xr wrote

There is no need to send people to mine asteroids, it is not like they are going to be wielding a pick-axe. The two sample missions we sent to nearby asteroids Bennu and Ryugu found they were "rubble piles" rather than a solid chunk of rock or metal. Just a big pile of rocks loosely held by gravity.

So "mining" consists of sending a robotic probe to an asteroid of this type, slipping a sturdy bag around a suitable sized rock, pulling the drawstring tight, and flying away. The bag is to prevent loose bits from falling off and possibly damaging the probe.

My math shows a 10 ton probe with 26 tons of propellant can haul 1000 tons back from a nearby asteroid. Since some asteroid types have up to 20% carbon compounds and water, which can be turned into more propellant, the mining process can be self-fueling after the first trip.

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dentalstudent t1_j65rkx7 wrote

I agree there's no point in sending humans, that was just the plot. I think what it got right was the idea that it's best to use the mining products in space since there is no point to shipping them planetside

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PandaEven3982 t1_j61hbys wrote

Possible. But umless needed, it might get cracked into O2 and propellant. You can always recombine, the energy is probably gonna be really cheap. I've always thought smelting on the earth crossing returning orbit would be profitable, but certainly not now at bootstrap time.

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